More than 500 protestors poured into the Statehouse this afternoon, demanding action from lawmakers and the governor.
The demonstrators say elected officials aren’t doing enough to support poor and working-class Vermonters. And many say they’ve had enough with the Democratic supermajority that now controls Montpelier.
Uniformed police stood guard outside the Vermont Statehouse Friday as a parade of activists wended its way through downtown Montpelier. Law enforcement wasn’t looking to stand in anyone’s way though, and when the mass of demonstrators reached the doors of the Capitol, they passed freely onto the premises.
Legislators and lobbyists looked on, some with bemusement, others with disdain, as the chanting crowd made its way through the lobby, Cedar Creek room, and even the cafeteria. Almost as quickly as they had entered, the throng filed out onto the Statehouse lawn for an afternoon rally.
Sergeant-At-Arms Janet Miller says the event went about as well as could be expected.
“We had prepared for it and we had a plan and I think the plan wen t according to what we had decided,” Miller said.
The tactic might not have earned the crowd any new fans in the Statehouse. But many of the activists say they’re done with the current crop of lawmakers anyway. State employee John Howe says the nearly $14 million in proposed cuts to wages and benefits of state workers exemplifies the problem with Montpelier.
The Vermont State Employees Association put several tax proposals on the table. Lawmakers and the governor rejected them all.
“We think that by and large the people that are working for the Statehouse are working for the wealthy, hence our proposals to tax the wealthy are going down the drain, and particularly with the Democratic Party, which we thought was a pro-labor, pro-worker party has turned to be very much with the governor at the helm a party that is protecting wealth,” Howe said.
The May Day rally featured people representing numerous causes, from migrant justice and racial equality to single-payer health care and human services. Kim Brittenham, civil rights manager at the Vermont Center for Independent Living, said programs and services for Vermonters with disabilities is under fire from a Democratically controlled Legislature that her organization expected better from.
“As somebody who’s lived here for the past 25 years, and worked shoulder to shoulder with some of our lawmakers on different projects, to support women that are incarnated, or people that are low-income or people on disability – I’m flabbergasted. I really am,” Brittenham said.
General fund spending is up by close to 5 percent under the budget passed by the Senate Friday afternoon. House Speaker Shap Smith said the Legislature is paying for that new spending in part by asking for more from wealthier residents. A proposal to cap income tax deductions, or limit the home-mortgage interest deduction, would have a disproportionate impact on taxpayers ion higher income brackets.
“I mean we did actually raise taxes on people who are higher income. We made some decisions that are tough decisions, but we need to have a sustainable budget. We did protect most programs for those who are most vulnerable in the state of Vermont,” Smith said.
Protestors reserved some of their harshest words for Gov. Peter Shumlin, who upset organized labor this week with yet another proposal to cut wages and benefits. Administration Secretary Justin Johnson says the third-term governor has to balance the needs of Vermonters with taxpayers’ ability to pay.
“It’s a tough budgeting environment but the budget we have is a fair one,’ Johnson said.
Washington Sen. Anthony Pollina, a Progressive/Democrat, disagrees.
“We continue to look for ways to balance the budget on the backs of working families and middle-class families,” Pollina said.
Pollina said drastic change in fiscal policy in Montpelier will likely require a change in personnel.
“I think the change that really needs to happen is the change at the top,” Pollina said. “And we need to change the political dialogue and make sure we have more progressive-minded legislators and a more progressive-minded governor who’s willing to stand with the middle class.”
